Adding a second PC - would it be beneficial?

[Dane Watson 38]

First I apologize if this is in the wrong forum - let me know.

I have a general question to do with adding a second PC laptop to possibly aid in the smoother running of my P3Dv4.5 on my main PC. My main and only PC runs P3D, ChasePlane, Active Sky, Sky Force, Navigraph, Little NavMap, EFB2 Server and Client.

So I had this eight year old Dell Vostro laptop that I just resurrected and upgraded it to Windows 10 from 7.  I wondered if I was to run some of the addons listed here would it help in reducing the work load on my main PC?
So I thought I would post my question to those that probably have answers.

If you can give some advice I would appreciate it.

[vgbaron 3,486]

The convenience of having the addons on a different screen is beneficial but you're not going to see any noticeable performance increase by offloading them. In many cases the cpu cycles that you gain by moving them to a different computer are given right back with the extra load of networking them, etc.

As I said, the big improvement will be having the addons on a different monitor.

Vic

[Dane Watson 38]

9 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

The convenience of having the addons on a different screen is beneficial but you're not going to see any noticeable performance increase by offloading them. In many cases the cpu cycles that you gain by moving them to a different computer are given right back with the extra load of networking them, etc.

As I said, the big improvement will be having the addons on a different monitor.

Vic

Thank you Vic - I never thought it through to the networking load.

[hovercrafter 10]

LittleNavMap would benefit being on another computer. It has its own connect program which seems to have little impact on FPS whereas the main programme can cause stutters when updating. I cannot comment on your other programmes.

I am not a computer guru but really haven't noticed any downside to my networking the eight USB controllers, FSUIPC, Weather Engine and LNM onto a second computer.

Not completely sure but P3D, I think, requires Simconnect running in local mode anyway (certainly some addons need it) so going to its network version is not a big step.

Gordon

[Ray Proudfoot 8,905]

I've run several programs on a second PC for many years. Electronic Flight Bag and Radar Contact v4 being the most useful. EFB only requires a SimConnect connection but Radar Contact requires WideFS (it emulates FS on a second PC) purchasable from SimMarkets.

The extra monitor is the most beneficial but RC volume on a separate PC is adjustable and useful. I have never encountered any hit because of network connections. Modern CPUs are very powerful and the benefits of offloading to another PC now compared to years ago are less clear cut.

Moving map software is the most useful I would suggest.

[Clutch Cargo 384]

I use two extra computers to offload apps to them.  Like you I just revamped an 8 year old HP laptop, fresh install of Windows 10, upgraded the drive to a 512GB SSD and went from 4 to 8GB of RAM.  Using it to run Plan-G as my moving map and Super Traffic Board.  I then have a 2nd desktop to run a 16" 16x9 display to run all my glass panels or steam gauges depending on which aircraft I fly.  

I find it improves my performance of P3D on my main pc.  I would say give it a try.

[BMW969 126]

And how many cores does P3D use?

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

34 minutes ago, BMW969 said:

And how many cores does P3D use?

As many as you give it..

[reecemj 143]

1 hour ago, Clutch Cargo said:

I use two extra computers to offload apps to them.  Like you I just revamped an 8 year old HP laptop, fresh install of Windows 10, upgraded the drive to a 512GB SSD and went from 4 to 8GB of RAM.  Using it to run Plan-G as my moving map and Super Traffic Board.  I then have a 2nd desktop to run a 16" 16x9 display to run all my glass panels or steam gauges depending on which aircraft I fly.  

I find it improves my performance of P3D on my main pc.  I would say give it a try.

Do you have any pics of your setup to share? I like the run gauges and panel idea.

[Dane Watson 38]

12 hours ago, hovercrafter said:

LittleNavMap would benefit being on another computer. It has its own connect program which seems to have little impact on FPS whereas the main programme can cause stutters when updating. I cannot comment on your other programmes.

I am not a computer guru but really haven't noticed any downside to my networking the eight USB controllers, FSUIPC, Weather Engine and LNM onto a second computer.

Not completely sure but P3D, I think, requires Simconnect running in local mode anyway (certainly some addons need it) so going to its network version is not a big step.

Gordon

 

11 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I've run several programs on a second PC for many years. Electronic Flight Bag and Radar Contact v4 being the most useful. EFB only requires a SimConnect connection but Radar Contact requires WideFS (it emulates FS on a second PC) purchasable from SimMarkets.

The extra monitor is the most beneficial but RC volume on a separate PC is adjustable and useful. I have never encountered any hit because of network connections. Modern CPUs are very powerful and the benefits of offloading to another PC now compared to years ago are less clear cut.

Moving map software is the most useful I would suggest.

Gordon and Ray - your posts are encouraging to me.  Maybe I can make use of my older refurbished laptop and offload some of these addons like - Active Sky, Sky Force, Navigraph, Little NavMap, EFB2 Server and Client.

I am not sure at all as to how to do this but I know that I would like to give it a try.  The more I Google on how to connect two PCs the more I get confused - could I ask if possible for you to shed some light on the steps and whatever else I need to be aware of and also need to do to make this work - if you could PM me then we won't be cluttering up this forum I would be very grateful.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,905]

Hi Dane, the first step is to create a network so both computers can see each other. There are various YT videos on how to do that. It’s much easier if you connect using an Ethernet cable as the security side is simplified.

Try this guide. Written, not a video. https://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-systems/windows-10/how-to-set-up-a-homegroup-network-in-windows-10/

Check if the laptop has an Ethernet port. It probably does. Connect the laptop to your router using that cable. It should have a spare port. Once you’ve done that bit come back for part 2.

One piece of advice. Active Sky is best on the P3D PC. It loads the data quicker and only does that every 15 mins so it’s a very low resource. EFB Server must remain on the P3D PC of course. It’s the Client side that will run on the laptop but check the minimum screen resolution as it’s quite high. An older laptop may not have the res required. LNM will be fine though.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Ray Proudfoot

[Clutch Cargo 384]

Here ya go reecemj (and to all),

my "office" is what I call a multi-purpose flight deck as I like to fly many types of aircraft and like lot's of flexibility when I fly.   I still needed to use the system as a regular PC for work and flightsim designing hence you see the keyboard and mouse at arm level and I can switch their use among three PCs.

The first shot might be for a typical jet - Three displays across on my main PC, the center display is a 16" but in a 16x9 type format... a little more stretched, unique.  My 3rd display off to the lower left is my laptop I was talking about.

Or if I want a different setup:  here a little GA with just the center display for flying.  I have the left display currently for internet use... right now just display the weather and on the right I have a TV running or I could watch a movie for those long flights where I might need some "in-flight entertainment"

I did a bit of researching over several forums that had sections on cockpits where I got some good ideas.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Clutch Cargo

[Dane Watson 38]

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Hi Dane, the first step is to create a network so both computers can see each other. There are various YT videos on how to do that. It’s much easier if you connect using an Ethernet cable as the security side is simplified.

Try this guide. Written, not a video. https://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-systems/windows-10/how-to-set-up-a-homegroup-network-in-windows-10/

Check if the laptop has an Ethernet port. It probably does. Connect the laptop to your router using that cable. It should have a spare port. Once you’ve done that bit come back for part 2.

One piece of advice. Active Sky is best on the P3D PC. It loads the data quicker and only does that every 15 mins so it’s a very low resource. EFB Server must remain on the P3D PC of course. It’s the Client side that will run on the laptop but check the minimum screen resolution as it’s quite high. An older laptop may not have the res required. LNM will be fine though.

They say - "inch by inch it's a cinch, by the yard it's hard"

I am inching my way through this. I have the laptop setup with an ethernet connection.

I tried setting up a HomeGroup but it seems that with my latest Windows 10 the HomeGroup ability is no longer. My Win10 is Home version not Pro, I think Pro still allows HomeGroup. So how else can one setup a homegroup.? I will search through YT for more help.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,905]

Dane, I’ll come back to you tomorrow. I have a network that includes 10, 7 and XP computers so it is possible.

[c912039 111]

With my background in hardware,network and systems engineering, Ive always used networked resources in conjunction with my main flight sim platform.

I have 5 other 'PCs', plus a Windows surface tablet, in addition to my main P3D rig, but that number could be viewed as 'obsessive'. For me, I find its so easy for me to set these up, so I do.

The 5 PCs are actually virtual machine's running windows on an Enterprise VMWare server, which very few would probably have access to or experience in setting up such an infrastructure.

But offloading 1 product at a time to a networked laptop or older PC is doable and achievable, if you take small steps to get there.  Once you have achieved this, then moving more products off your main rig will come easier.

My time online is limited, and I cant guarantee I would be able to respond straight away, but Id be happy to help contribute where I can in this thread to others.

 

Regards

David